MILFORD – Kylie Tibbetts made her first phone call to 911 as a prank when she was 4.

Since then, she has learned that the emergency service is just that – a service meant only for emergencies.

Last month, the 9-year-old made another phone call to 911, but this one was for real.

Levi Garrett, who had been staying at a cabin next door to Kylie, was able to make it to the girl’s home that Saturday and tell her his cabin was on fire and that he needed help.

For her ability to stay cool, calm, and collected while calling 911, Kylie was recognized Tuesday by the Penobscot Regional Communications Center and Milford Fire Department.

“She was awesome,” PRCC dispatch supervisor Betty Kilby-Stone said. “She stayed calm, spoke clearly, and stayed on the phone.”

Garrett suffered burns to his hands and face in the blaze. His current condition wasn’t available Tuesday, but Garrett was taken to a Boston hospital, where he was in critical condition after the fire.

“She’s known since she was 4 years old what 911 is,” Kylie’s mother, Tonya Albano, said Tuesday.

Albano took the prank call as an opportunity to teach her daughter how and when to use the emergency number.

On another occasion, Kylie called 911 for another neighbor who was severely cut by a piece of glass while installing storm windows at her house.

Before presenting Kylie with her awards, Kilby-Stone gave a lesson on 911 to the pupils of Dr. Lewis S. Libby School, where Kylie is a third-grader.

“911 is a very special phone number,” she said. “Don’t ever call 911 for a prank call.”

After a visit from Red E. Fox, the 911 mascot, whose middle name is Emergency, Kilby-Stone quieted the kids. “You have your very own 911 hero,” Kilby-Stone said. “Kylie called 911 because somebody came to her house and said that their house was on fire and they were hurt.”

Kylie, who was too shy to go up onstage Tuesday, received stuffed bears from both dispatch and the Fire Department, in addition to certificates marking her noteworthy action in response to an emergency.

“The second time she handled it so well,” Albano said of her daughter’s 911 calls. “I was so proud of her.”